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US6058489A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

On-line disk array reconfiguration

Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
•
Filing: 1998-08-20
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Granted: 2000-05-02
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Expires: 2018-08-20
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Abstract

Abstract A system for performing on-line reconfiguration of a disk array in which a source logical volume is reconfigured to a destination logical volume. Disk array configuration is invoked if a new physical drive is inserted, or a drive is removed. Reconfiguration can also be performed if the user desires to change the configuration of a particular logical volume, such as its stripe size. The disk array reconfiguration is run as a background task by firmware on a disk controller board. The reconfigure task first moves data from the source logical volume to a posting memory such as RAM memory. The reconfigure task operates one stripe at a time, with the stripe size being that of the destination logical volume. Once a stripe of data is moved into the posting memory, it is written back to corresponding locations in the destination logical volume. The reconfigure task continues until all data in the source logical volume have been moved into the destination logical volume. While the reconfigure task is working on a particular logical volume, data remains accessible to host write and read requests.

Inventors

  • 👤 Stephen M. Schultz
  • 👤 Mark J. Thompson

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-05 16:48
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/07; G06F11/08; G06F11/10; G06F11/1076; G06F11/1096; G06F3/00; G06F3/06; G06F3/0601; G06F3/0602; G06F3/0626; G06F3/0628; G06F3/0629; G06F3/0632; G06F3/0668; G06F3/0671; G06F3/0683; G06F3/0689; G11; G11C; G11C29/00; G11C29/70; G11C29/74

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim 103 words
A method of passing host requests to a disk array while reconfiguring the disk array, the disk array having a source logical volume and a destination logical volume, pre-reconfiguration data being associated with the source logical volume and post-reconfiguration data being associated with the destination logical volume, comprising the steps of: detecting if a host request to the drive array corresponds to post-reconfiguration data or pre-reconfiguration data; issuing the host request to the source logical volume if the host request corresponds to the pre-reconfiguration data; and issuing the host request to the destination logical volume if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 103 words
A method of passing host requests to a disk array while reconfiguring the disk array, the disk array having a source logical volume and a destination logical volume, pre-reconfiguration data being associated with the source logical volume and post-reconfiguration data being associated with the destination logical volume, comprising the steps of: detecting if a host request to the drive array corresponds to post-reconfiguration data or pre-reconfiguration data; issuing the host request to the source logical volume if the host request corresponds to the pre-reconfiguration data; and issuing the host request to the destination logical volume if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 38 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: detecting if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data and pre-reconfiguration data; and suspending the host request if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data and pre-reconfiguration data.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 109 words
A disk controller for passing host requests to a drive array while reconfiguring the drive array, the drive array having a source logical volume and a destination logical volume, pre-reconfiguration data being associated with the source logical volume and post-reconfiguration data being associated with the destination logical volume, comprising: detector logic for detecting if a host request to the disk array corresponds to post-reconfiguration data or pre-reconfiguration data; issuer logic for issuing the host request to the source logical volume if the host request corresponds to pre-reconfiguration data; and issuer logic for issuing the host request to the destination logical volume if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 109 words
A disk controller for passing host requests to a drive array while reconfiguring the drive array, the drive array having a source logical volume and a destination logical volume, pre-reconfiguration data being associated with the source logical volume and post-reconfiguration data being associated with the destination logical volume, comprising: detector logic for detecting if a host request to the disk array corresponds to post-reconfiguration data or pre-reconfiguration data; issuer logic for issuing the host request to the source logical volume if the host request corresponds to pre-reconfiguration data; and issuer logic for issuing the host request to the destination logical volume if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 42 words
The disk controller of claim 3, further comprising: detector logic for detecting if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data and pre-reconfiguration data; and suspension logic for suspending the host request if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data and pre-reconfiguration data.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 122 words
A computer system, comprising: a host computer; a disk drive array, the drive array having a source logical volume and a destination logical volume, pre-reconfiguration data being associated with a source logical volume and post-reconfiguration data being associated with the destination logical volume; and a disk controller for transferring data between the disk array and the host computer, the disk controller comprising: detector logic for detecting of a host request to the disk array corresponds to post-reconfiguration data or pre-configuration data; issuer logic for issuing the host request to the source logical volume if the host request corresponds to pre-reconfiguration data; and issuer logic for issuing the host request to the destination logical volume if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 122 words
A computer system, comprising: a host computer; a disk drive array, the drive array having a source logical volume and a destination logical volume, pre-reconfiguration data being associated with a source logical volume and post-reconfiguration data being associated with the destination logical volume; and a disk controller for transferring data between the disk array and the host computer, the disk controller comprising: detector logic for detecting of a host request to the disk array corresponds to post-reconfiguration data or pre-configuration data; issuer logic for issuing the host request to the source logical volume if the host request corresponds to pre-reconfiguration data; and issuer logic for issuing the host request to the destination logical volume if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 45 words
The computer system of claim 5, the disk controller further comprising: detector logic for detecting if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data and pre-reconfiguration data; and suspension logic for suspending the host request if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data and pre-reconfiguration data.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 63 words
A processor readable medium storing code for performing the steps comprising: detecting if a host request to the drive array corresponds to post-reconfiguration data or pre-reconfiguration data; issuing the host request to a source logical volume if the host request corresponds to the pre-reconfiguration data; and issuing the host request to a destination logical volume if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 63 words
A processor readable medium storing code for performing the steps comprising: detecting if a host request to the drive array corresponds to post-reconfiguration data or pre-reconfiguration data; issuing the host request to a source logical volume if the host request corresponds to the pre-reconfiguration data; and issuing the host request to a destination logical volume if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 41 words
The processor readable medium of claim 7, the code further performing steps comprising: detecting if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data and pre-reconfiguration data; and suspending the host request if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data and pre-reconfiguration data.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 65 words
A processor readable medium, comprising: detector code for detecting if a host request to a disk array corresponds to post-reconfiguration data or pre-reconfiguration data; issuer code for issuing the host request to a source logical volume if the host request corresponds to pre-reconfiguration data; and issuer code for issuing the host request to a destination logical volume if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 65 words
A processor readable medium, comprising: detector code for detecting if a host request to a disk array corresponds to post-reconfiguration data or pre-reconfiguration data; issuer code for issuing the host request to a source logical volume if the host request corresponds to pre-reconfiguration data; and issuer code for issuing the host request to a destination logical volume if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 43 words
The processor readable medium of claim 9, further comprising: detector code for detecting if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data or pre-reconfiguration data; and suspension code for suspending the host request if the host request corresponds to post-reconfiguration data and pre-reconfiguration data.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

EP0482819A2 Cited
EP0485110A2 Cited
US5574851A Cited
EP0654736A2 Cited
US5809224A Cited
US5790775A Cited
US5822782A Cited
US5864653A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2003-05-02 2003-11-01 2004-05-02 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2007-05-02 2007-11-01 2008-05-02 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2011-05-02 2011-11-01 2012-05-02 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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